Separating and reducing mechanism.



M. F; WILLIAMS.- SEPARATING Am) REDUCING MECHANISM. APPucATIo men lUtY 1 2', ms.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

I 5 5 l m m/ar Fifi/WWW Emma Dec 24, 1918.

m. F. WILLIAMS. SEPARATING AND REDUCING MECHANISM.

APPUCATION EILED JULY 12. l9l5l 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Vivian" w grinding broken, straw to grain.

ear ar r-@ MILTON F. WILLIAMS, OF ST, LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR T0 WILLIAMS PATENT CBUSHER AND PULVERIZER COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI,

'IION OF MISSOURI.

A CORPORA- SEEABA'IING AND REDUCING MEGHAhTIShI.

mes es.

To all whom it'mag concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON F. WILLIAMS,

a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Separating-and Reducing Mechanism, of which the following is'a full, clear,

I and exact description, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to'make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates broadly to machines for reducing or comminuting various materials, and relates specifically to a machine which, in conjunction with the reducing or process, selects the material which it is intended to be ground.

In the reduction of various materials, such as the general run of stuff from which stock food is made, the material, in the aggregate, comprises a very general mixture running all the way'from hulls, chaff and This vmixture is of varying fineness for food and the like. It more or less refractory ground into a meal stock food, poultry usually occurs that or unfriablematerial, such as pebbles and pieces of metal, find their way into the mixture, and if fed therewith to the grinder, work damage to the machine.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide a machine which will have large reducing'capacity for the amount of power employed, and which will operate, in conjunction with the reducing function, to separate the desired material from the undesired, feed the former to the reducing elements, and inhibit or prevent the feeding of the latter thereto.

A further object of my provide a machine having the characteristics just described, which is particularly adapted for use by individuals of limited experience with reducing machinery, so that it may be widely used with safetii to both the operator and the machine itself.

A further object of my invention is to provide a machine having the characteristics described, which is capable of various adjustments whereby selected constituents of the mixture fed thereto may be separated from the others, in comuuction with the reducing process.

Specification of Letters Patent.

invention is to A .further object of my invention is to provide such a machine wherein the passage of the material through the machine may be regulated for varying the rate of reduction.

A further object of provide a Patented Deco 241, 1918.

Application filed July 12,1915. Serial No. eases.

-my invention is to machine of the sort described p wherein the collection and disposal of the finished product may be carried on in con; ]m1ct1on' w 1th theselecting and reducing process. v Other and further objects of my invention will be obvious or pointed out hereinafter.

'In the drawings Figure 1 represents iii a front view of my Y improved machine with some of theparts 7 thereof-in vertical section; v

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with parts in vertical section; v

Fig. 3 is a detail of the intake terminal member. 7 V

As illustrated in these figures, 1 indicates a frame forming a suitable support for the various parts of :1V reducing mill 2, and for side brackets 4 which support a conveyor frame 5.

The mill includes a casing 6 forming a grinding chamber, and the hopper 7, which is separated from a cage 8 which or otherwise apertured to provide one or' more discharge openings 8 through which the finished product is discharged from the grinding chamber into the hopper 7. This cageconstitutes one of the coacting reducing elements, and cotiperates with the movable reducing elements 9, here shown as hammers or heaters carried on the shaft 10, to reduce the material which it is desired to grind. The material is fed into the grinding chamber through a'feed opening 11 in the manner hereinafter to be described.

A fan casing 12 is suitably supported on the frame 1, and cooperates with a centrifugal fan 14 which is carried on the shaft 10. A conduit pipe 15 leads from the discharge hopper 7 to the fan casing 12, opening thereinto at the eye of the fan. A discharge pipe or conduit 16 leads tangentially from the fan casing to any suitable collecting device, such as the ordinary cyclone collector.-

Mounted withinthe conveyer frame '5 are drums or sheaves 17 which carry an endless conveyer belt 18, with which the sides 5 of the conveyer frame cooperate to form a the grinding chamber by y is perforated, interruptedrj,

the upper lap of conveyor belt 18 moves I it is transmitted, is a feed hopper 21 which f'ls pivotally mounted on frame 5 so that its ldil'ower or discharge end may be swung upiwardly away from conveyerbelt 18. In normal position, the lower or discharge end of j hopper 21 lies adjacent to the upper surface 9 of conveyor belt 18, but is spaced apart there- ;lp, from a little distance. The lower portion it of the side of hopper 21 which is on the side I toward which the belt travels, is formed by a vertically adjustable slide 22, which is movr able in a slideway 24, and which is retained in adjusted positions by a clamping bolt 25.

- H By upward or downward'movement of slide 22 in slideway 24, the lower edge of the slide 1 vfrom belt 18. Material which is deposited 235 "in hopper 21 isfed down onto conveyer belt 18, the amount-of material discharged onto the conveyor belt being determined by the spacing of slide 22 relative to the belt. The

, material thus deposited on the belt is in a $0 uniform thin layer.

' Leading into feed opening 11 is a feed conve er pipe 26 which-rises upwardly from a re 'uced end portion 26 Slidably mounted on the reduced end portion 2'6 is a sleeve member 27 which is securable in various ver- "#ticalpositions on 26 by means of any suitable securing means 28. Pivotally mounted on sleeve member 27 is nozzle member 29,

which is held in operative position by the 1&0; catch 30 which may be released to permit nozzle member 29 being swung out of line relative to sleeve member 27. Adjustably mounted on nozzle member 29am lip memhere 33. which are connected at their lateral to extremities by flexible sides 31, so as to form l 1 a. terminal member communicating at its upper end with nozzle member 29, and opening at'its lower end with a long and narrow orifice which is disposed in proximity to the 0 upper surface of conveyer belt 18. Suitable adjusting means 32 are provided whereby the Width of the orifice of the terminal member may be'varied. Reduced member 26 is proyidedwith a damper opening 26", the effective size of which is determinable by the position of an adjustable damper The foregoing forms a continuous pneumatic sys- Y. tem as follows:

The fan 14: draws air in at the orifice oi." the terminal member, up through reduced portion 26' and through feed conduit 26 into the grinding chamber; then through the aper- 1 tured cage into hopper 7, through hopper 7 and into pipe 15, thence into the fan casing,

6 whence it is expelled through discharge conl i may be positioned nearer or farther away duit '16. The amount of air taken in may be varied by adjustment of lip members 33 to vary the size of the intake opening, andthe strength of the draft at the intake may regulated by varying the effective size of orifice by the action of the fan. By vertical adjustment of sleeve member 27, and by adjustments of lip members and damper 34 as above described, the eifectiveness of this draft upon the material onlthe belt 18 may be varied so that it will pick up light stuff and leave heavy stuff. 'By such regulation, the device may be regulated to pick up the chad, hulls and broken straw and leave the rain, or it may beregulated to pick up all the desired material, leaving such heavy material as pebbles or metal. The heav 1 material which is not taken up by the draft is left on the belt, by which it is transmitted to the point where the belt passes around the forward sheave 17, at which point it is discharged into a discharge chute In case someof the lighter pieces of metal are drawn into the intake orifice, they are not conveyed to the mill, but after rising in nozzle member '29 a short distance are permitted to fall babk into the terminal member and onto the belt. All such retained foreign pieces. may be discharged from the terminal member by unlatching nozzle member 29 and swinging it back. The desired material, after being drawn into the intake orifice, is carried through feed pipe 26 into the grinding chamber. Here it is subject to. the grinding action 1 of the reducing elements until sufficiently reduced to be discharged into hopper 7. v

The arrangement described contributes materially to therapidity of the reducing process, and the passage of the material. througl'i the reducing machine. This is due to the fact that the feed regular and uniform at all times. The iiizfiiliine is never gorged and never running empty, as the uniform supply of material by conveyor belt 18 keeps the machine supplied continuously and unifori'nly. If the material is slow in reducing and going throughv the screen, the effectiveness of the fan to draw mate ial into the reducing chamber will be decreased, and, consequently, the machine will never be (merloaded. In the second place, the passage (if the material into the machine under draft, and the continuous suction in the discharge hopper 7, prevent racing of the material with the heaters 9, and insure its discharge from the grinding chamber as soon as it is sufficiently reduced Hence the material is not allowed to gather mes- ,7815

Thus the machine is rendecrease the rapidity of feed without varypower, 25

usage,

It cannot be gorged, and it cannot be put' material preing the bulk or volume of the The adjustsented. to the intake orifice. ment of the provides for varying the volume of the stream of. material fed to the intake, while the adjustment of lip members 33, sleeve I member 27, and damper 34 permit variations in the aspirative effectiveness of the device whereby its selective function.'and its reducing function, may be affected.

This -device forms a very eiiicient separating and reducing system which can be operated on very little power, as the voperation of the fan does not require additional and in fact lessens the amount of power required to operate the mill by securing a uniformity of feed and an immediate withdrawal of reduced material from the grinding chamber. The power required to operate the conveyer belt is inconsiderable. This arrangementalso provides an ideal machine for very wide and general as it is substantially fool-proof.

"out of commission by the introduction of rectly'from the reducing. chamber to the refractory foreign material. There is no waste of product, as'it is all handled dicollecting device. It is very simple and inexpensive to install, as it requires no exs and but the single drive ternal shafting, belt'to transmit power to' the operating shaft. i

I am aware that the deviceandits com- I pon'ent. parts are capable of changes and fan as soon as it is drawn,

slide 22, as above described,

-Witn'esses modifications departing from the embodiment herein, shown'and described, without I departing from the spirit and. scopeinvention. v r

What I claim is:

1. 111 a separating and feeding mechanism, the combination of a chamber provided with a feed inlet and a screened outlet for reduced material, for continuously feeding inlet, and aspirative means operable to of the feeding mechanism material .to said charge reduced material from the chamber through the-screen and to select material from said feeding mechanism and convey the selected'material to the chamber, which" last mentioned means includes a suction nozzle, the mouthof which is adjustablejin width so as to vary the volume of material taken up by said anism being operable to discharge the material remaining thereon.

2. In a combined separating .and feeding mechanism, the combination with a chamber having a foraminous portion for the discharge of reduced material and an inlet for the sup ly f unreduced'material, of means for feeding materlal continuously to the inlet in uniform volume, and aspirative means effective through the foraminous portion of the chamber to draw unreduced ma-.

terial from the feeding means into the chamber against the influence of gravity and reduced material out of the chamber, which nozzle, said feeding mech-' aspirative means includes-a suction nozzle,

the intake opening of which'is. adjustable in width so as to vary the-volume of material taken up by said nozzle. Y In testimony whereof Ihereunto afiix my signature in the presence "of two witnesses, this twenty eighth da. 'of June, 1915.

F. WILLIAMS.

MABEL A. Kmonn, WM. WEBER. 

